macbob
  • macbob
  • Veteran Member Topic Starter
14 years ago
http://www.freep.com/article/20110208/SPORTS01/102080396/1049/rss14 

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Long after the final streams of confetti had trickled down from Cowboys Stadium, acknowledging the Packers' 31-25 Super Bowl XLV victory over the Steelers, MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers gave a terrifying take-notice to the rest of the NFL.

"We got one so far," Rodgers said. "We're going to make a run next year. But tonight, we're going to enjoy this."

Even in the Not For Long league, the Packers have pieced together a roster good enough and young enough to contend for the foreseeable future.

Rodgers was playing like the best quarterback in football even before he led three pristine touchdown drives against Pittsburgh's top-ranked scoring defense. Clay Matthews is one of the game's top pass rushers, with 23 1/2 sacks in his first two seasons.

And B.J. Raji, A.J. Hawk, Tramon Williams and Greg Jennings also are members of Green Bay's under-28 core locked up through next season, at least.

The Packers are a model organization in how they have built and who they have built with.

So what can the Lions learn from the Super Bowl champs? And more important, what must the playoff-starved franchise do to surpass its rivals in the treacherous NFC North?

The Green Bay way

ARLINGTON, Texas -- In the NFL, building through the draft is the only sustainable, efficient way to go.

Lions general manager Martin Mayhew said as much when he ascended to power after 2008's winless season, and the Green Bay Packers proved that again Sunday with a 31-25 victory over Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XLV.

Of the 22 Packers who started in the Super Bowl, 17 were drafted by Green Bay. Linebacker Frank Zombo signed as an undrafted rookie out of Central Michigan. Cornerback Tramon Williams was developed through the practice squad after a brief stint with Houston. Defensive end Howard Green was claimed off waivers. And cornerback Charles Woodson and defensive end Ryan Pickett came as free agents, although only Woodson would qualify as a big-name signing.

By acquiring and nurturing most of their talent, the Packers have kept costs down and a steady stream of hungry, well-schooled replacements available. Cornerback Sam Shields, another undrafted rookie, played most of the fourth quarter in Woodson's place.

Under Mayhew, the Lions' desire is to avoid high-priced free-agents, although last off-season they splurged on Kyle Vanden Bosch and Nate Burleson.

Those additions were meant to plug holes left by years of draft neglect. The Lions have nothing to show from 2002 to 2005, when they took a quarterback (Joey Harrington) and three receivers (Charles Rogers, Roy Williams and Mike Williams) in the first round.

In the same drafts, the Packers unearthed starters Nick Collins, Scott Wells and Nick Barnett (who's on injured reserve and missed the Super Bowl), and found maybe the game's best quarterback in Aaron Rodgers.

As the Lions enter this off-season with sincere hopes of breaking an 11-year playoff drought, there are lessons to be learned from those picks and the Packers.


Best Player Available is the way to go: Green Bay did not need Rodgers in 2005. Brett Favre was still playing at a high level -- he had a revival of sorts a year earlier, throwing for 4,088 yards and 30 touchdowns -- but when Rodgers, a potential No. 1 overall pick, slid to 24, the Packers had done enough homework to know he was their man.

The Lions' drafts have been ready-made the past two years. Matthew Stafford was the obvious choice with the first pick in 2009, and last year there were some who thought Ndamukong Suh was a steal at No. 2.

Things won't be quite as clear this year, when the Lions draft 13th. That's still high enough to get a cornerstone playmaker, but it might not be at one of their two neediest positions (linebacker and cornerback).

The draft is stacked on the defensive line this year, the Lions' deepest position. Still, there's merit to taking a pass rusher or run clogger if that's the best player on your board. Rogers sat for three years and at 27 is a star. Three years from now, there's no guarantee anyone but Suh still will be on the Lions' front.

Hesitation can hurt: The Packers drafted Brian Brohm in the second round in 2008, and Brohm looked like a bust from the moment he stepped on the field. Rather than for wait him to develop, Green Bay cut Brohm before he ever appeared in a game.

General manager Ted Thompson made similarly tough (and unpopular) decisions to trade disgruntled receiver Javon Walker and the legendary Favre.

Mayhew is a ruthless GM who's approaching his own hard decisions. It's easy to hold on to unproductive third-round pick Derrick Williams when the playoffs are a pipe dream, and difficult sometimes to admit your mistakes the minute they become clear. But tough choices can pay big dividends. For Favre, the Packers got a third-round pick from the Jets they used to trade up to draft Clay Matthews.

Stick with him: No one in the organization is trying to move on from Stafford, and doing so now despite two injury-riddled seasons would be silly. Stafford turned 23 on Monday, has been paid most of his money, and as good as the Packers and Steelers were defensively, the NFL is still a quarterback's game.

Rodgers passed for 304 yards and three touchdowns in the Super Bowl and is the biggest reason the Packers are NFL champs.

Stafford doesn't have anywhere near Rodgers' pocket presence, and his ability to take a hit is a question. But he has as good an arm as there is in the NFL.

If Stafford makes good on his promise, there's a good chance the Lions will, too.

Detroit Free Press wrote:

TOPackerFan
14 years ago
Good read, but the Lions are a lot closer to being good than it looks. They had a really high scoring Offense last year (without their #1 QB for a lot of it) and have as good a DL as there is in the NFL. The only real weak link, and it's a big one, is the back 7 on D, but one good draft can change that. I'd expect the NFC North to be a two team race between the Packers and Lions for the next 3 or 4 years to come.
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dfosterf (3h) : Kenny played through it, and a shame he gets little credit for that, imo
dfosterf (3h) : Big men. I hope it's not the undoing of Kenny Clark
dfosterf (4h) : Probably his toe. Pretty much a great center. Toe injuries are brutal to bigen
Mucky Tundra (9h) : Lions All-Pro C Frank Ragnow retires
wpr (30-May) : It's all good.
beast (30-May) : Yeah, and I enjoyed your comments and just attempted to add to it. Sorry if I did it incorrectly.
wpr (30-May) : Beast I never said Henderson was the salt of the earth. Nor even that he was correct. Just quoting the guy.
Zero2Cool (29-May) : What did you do??
Zero2Cool (29-May) : Whoa
beast (29-May) : OMG the website is now all white, even some white on white text
beast (29-May) : Henderson, who admits to taking cocaine during the Super Bowl against the Steelers, might dislike Bradshaw as he lost two Superbowls to him
wpr (28-May) : Hollywood Henderson said Bradshaw “is so dumb, he couldn't spell 'cat' if you spotted him the C and an A.”
Mucky Tundra (28-May) : Cooper stock=BUY BUY BUY
Mucky Tundra (28-May) : Also notes he’s playing with more confidence.
Mucky Tundra (28-May) : @AndyHermanNFL MLF says there was a time last year where Cooper was at 220 pounds. Now he’s at 240 and still flying around.
Mucky Tundra (28-May) : And don't even get me started on Frank Caliendos "impersonations"
Mucky Tundra (28-May) : I got tired of them being circle jerks with them overlaughing at each others jokes.
Zero2Cool (28-May) : It used to be must watch TV for me. now it's "meh" maybe to hear injury update
Mucky Tundra (28-May) : I haven't watched the pregame shows in years and I don't feel like I've missed a thing
Zero2Cool (28-May) : Love says knee affected him all season, groin injury didn't help matters.
Zero2Cool (28-May) : I used to enjoy him on FOX Pregame. Now it's like a frat party of former Patriots.
Zero2Cool (28-May) : LaFleur on Watson: “Christian is doing outstanding. I would say he’s ahead of schedule.”
Martha Careful (28-May) : Bradshaw is a dumb ass cracker. I am so tired of his "aw shucks" diatribe. He should shrivel up and go away.
buckeyepackfan (28-May) : He wad all butt hurt because Aaron duped the media saying he was immunized.
buckeyepackfan (28-May) : Bradshaw needs to retire. He's been ripping on Rodgers ever since the covid crap. He was all hury
Zero2Cool (28-May) : Terry Bradshaw doesn't want Rodgers in Pittsburgh lol wow
Zero2Cool (27-May) : one day contract, which he also feels is pointless, but if Packers came to him, he would
packerfanoutwest (27-May) : Aaron Rodgers talks possibility of retiring with Packers, just another rumor
dfosterf (27-May) : Go watch 2001
Zero2Cool (26-May) : 1984
dfosterf (26-May) : That movie sent a chill through many. 1968.
dfosterf (26-May) : "Open the pod bay doors, HAL"
buckeyepackfan (25-May) : Haven't we all seen thus movie? It doesn't end well!! Lol
Zero2Cool (25-May) : lol Anthropic’s new AI model turns to blackmail when engineers try to take it offline
dfosterf (25-May) : Claude Opus 4
dfosterf (25-May) : AI system resorts to blackmail when its developers threaten to take it offline
beast (22-May) : Colts Owner Jim Irsay has passed away
Zero2Cool (21-May) : Well, emailing should work now. After not working for almost a year. Oops.
Zero2Cool (21-May) : Brotherly Shove did not get enough votes.
Zero2Cool (20-May) : lol our email hasn't worked in months. 7 pages of unverified users
Zero2Cool (20-May) : MySpace Screaming Lord Byron ... Brett Favre.
Zero2Cool (19-May) : Packers have signed first-round pick Matthew Golden, leaving second-round tackle Anthony Belton as their only unsigned draft pick
beast (19-May) : Supposedly he has to take his image, and name off of it... but otherwise could keep selling wine if he wanted to.
Zero2Cool (19-May) : he giving up his win business?
beast (19-May) : Speaking of Woodson, sounds like he'll be a minority owner (0.1%) of the Browns
Mucky Tundra (15-May) : Zero, regarding Woodson, that'd why I find the timing with Williams peculiar
dfosterf (15-May) : Ryan Hall y'all does a great job of tracking thesr
Zero2Cool (15-May) : Fear not!! I planned to do 33mi bike ride tomorrow morning, so ... yeah
Zero2Cool (15-May) : We got some dark clouds and nasty winds right bout now.
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